[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by e015475

Another vote for Evercoat's products. But using filler is more about technique than the product you use.

I'm still an amateur but I've read Martinsr's article a few times and always get something new out of it. Using filler incorrectly isn't hard -there's lots of hacks doing it. Using it correctly take some significant skill and practice.

Just did four fenders, a hood and running boards after metal work and here's a few 'lessons learned' (all stated at one point or another in the article above)

- Keep your sandpaper sharp. I use 80 grit on a durablock and check it often with my thumb to make sure the abrasive is still sharp. 80 grit or below is used to get to the panel contour. 180 is only to remove sand scratches prior to primer. Don't be cheap - change paper often

- Most beginners under-fill then over sand. Always keep the maximum contact area area of the board on the panel using a cris-cross pattern

- If you're straightening out panel irregularities, coat the whole panel with filler. The 'make a shell of filler' concept in the article is what I go for.

- The trick to avoiding pin-holes is to keep from overworking the filler as you put it on. I empty the mixing board onto the panel then start covering every square inch with filler. The final step is smoothing with the plastic spatula to get as uniform a 'shell' as possible.

- Ideally, this is the only time you should be using filler as you would have done all your metal work such that you only need a very thin coat to smooth the surface out. Reconcile yourself to the fact that 95% of the filler ends up on the floor as dust and there should be very little left on the panel.

- There's really no such thing as a 'spot repair' with filler. If you block it down and you've hit metal somewhere and you still have low spots, skim coat the entire panel again and block it. Small irregularities and pin holes can be filled with a little filler using a single edge razor blade as a applicator.

-Use guide coat liberally. I buy the $1 cans of flat black spray paint at HD and I buy 5 or six at a time.

-For large panels, you may have to apply the filler in sections. The area where the filler coats meet is where I have the most difficulty getting the panel to be straight, especially in higher crown areas. I let the first area cure until I can feather the edge before I overlap the next coat.

- Read Martinsr's article on how to feel a panel with your hands. Guide coat will get you close, but for the final tweaks, you need to be able to feel the panel irregularities to correct them. For panels with crowns that are not too high, I cheat a little and take and aluminum yardstick, turn it on edge and flex it with my thumbs to conform to the crown as I rub it on the panel. Usually there's enough aluminum oxide on the edge to leave a witness mark for the high spots (or you can coat the edge with a Sharpie and it will transfer) I knock down the high spots with 80 grit on a durablock and repeat the process till the witness mark is pretty much continuous (be sure you get any Sharpie residue off the surface before you prime - it will bleed)

- I consider myself very lucky if I can coat a panel just once with filler and get it flat or to contour. Usually it takes two coats, and sometimes three to get it right. It is a time consuming process and you need to reconcile yourself to keep repeating it until your panel is very straight. Evercoat's filler "Honey" can be used to thin the last coats for a more uniform and thin 'shell' - another excellent product.

- Try Evercoat's Featherfill as the final filler before you prime for your topcoat. Another excellent product from those folks.

Thanks for the excellent article Martinsr and I hope some of these amplifications will help somebody

Thanks for the kind words. Seeing people pull this stuff off themselves is why I love sharing my info.

Brian